


Terra's Adventures in Borkland

by the_emerald_rose



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Video Game Mechanics, glitch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 07:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_emerald_rose/pseuds/the_emerald_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Worlds are not usually made stable. Sure, the laws of the universe seem pretty stable, but that's not always the case in every world. Locke seems to get that, and seems intent on poking and prodding the very fabric of his world until something gives. And unfortunately, it seems like Terra is being dragged along for the ride. What could possibly go wrong?</p><p>... everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terra's Adventures in Borkland

**Author's Note:**

> Fun facts: a lot of the things that happen in this work of fiction can actually be reproduced in copies of Final Fantasy VI! However, they don't usually go as well as they do in this story. When attempting to reproduce glitches like this, please please PLEASE back up your save file. And for the love of God, don't try it on an actual SNES. Some of the things requested involve actually playing through the game from Narshe to the Floating Continent without saving.
> 
> Please note that none of the characters or places in this work of fiction are mine. I don't claim any right to them.

**Chapter 1: The Initial Bork**

Terra had no clue why on earth Locke kept telling her to do these strange things. Since she had left Narshe after her enslavement, the ‘treasure hunter’ had refused her the right to write in her journal, marking their progress across the continent. And now, now that Kefka had raised an island and he was so close to distorting the very balance of the Statues and they were so close to stopping him…

… he said they needed to go back.

Terra looked at him and the rest of the group. Celes seemed to be as confused as Terra was, and Shadow seemed off in his own little world. Not surprising. Even if the fate of the world rests on their collective shoulders, it was just another job. They were paying him. Well, not really, but the principle was still there.

Locke nodded and said, “We need to go back to the airship. It’s important.”

Celes grumbled and recrossed her arms. Ever the general, ever stoic. She asked, “What on earth could be so important that makes us need to jump down to the Blackjack so you can pick it up?”

“Look, I know I can’t explain,” Locke started, “But it’s really important, Celes. It’s like… the most important thing in the history of important things.”

Terra sighed and asked, “Can you just… give us a hint?”

“No. No, Terra, I can’t. You need to trust me.”

“And… what if I can’t?”

“Well…” Locke shuffled his boots, then pushed Celes. The general shrieked as she stumbled, ultimately falling down to the Blackjack before. Terra squeaked and backed away, but lost her footing and fell. She shrieked as she fell, tumbling wildly. Shadow soon came after, looking as professional as ever. Locke jumped after, whooping with joy.

THUD.

The airship wasn’t that much far below the Floating Continent, but the wooden deck still hurt to land on. Celes grumbled and pulled herself to her feet, straightening out her armor and cape. Terra whimpered and did the same, just as Shadow rolled onto the deck. Locke rolled in after, much less gracefully than the ninja. As Terra and Celes glared daggers at the ‘treasure hunter’, Shadow stood and brushed himself off nonchalantly. From under his hood came his muffled, crackly voice, stating dully, “Next time, do not push me.”

“R-right, sorry.” Locke smiled, then grabbed the wheel of the ship. He shouted, “SETZER! WE’RE GOING FLYING!!”

The Blackjack started into motion, with Locke at the helm. As Terra straightened out her skirt, Celes demanded, “What the hell was that for, Locke?!”

“Simple. We’re going flying a bit.”

“Why?!”

“I wanted to.”

Celes stormed towards Locke as he zipped over Zozo. She growled, “Listen to me. You put this airship back where it belongs, or so help me—“

“WHO’S READY TO TAKE ON A FLOATING CONTINENT?” Locke shouted, turning the airship hard. They zipped back up to the island. Terra grimaced as they rose above it, and Locke jumped down like it was nothing.

Celes sighed and jumped down after him, muttering something about this being stupid. Shadow did the same, and Terra followed after. They were right where they landed initially, nowhere near how far in they were before. Celes and Terra sighed, advancing forward. Shadow followed them stoically, not speaking a word. In contrast, Locke seemed giddy with anticipation.

Ahead of them was a gigantic beast, the Behemoth. It roared and charged at them, and Celes reached for her sword.

Except it wasn’t there.

She looked down at where her hilt should have been, and found it not there. She looked for her other weapons, and found them gone as well. Terra did the same, none of her weapons remaining. Shadow seemed to have noticed as well, and was working on casting a spell.

Except he couldn’t.

Locke snickered, a good ways away from the group. Celes started to shout, but found herself silenced. It was a powerful charm, and no words could escape her lips. Terra looked for her pack, full of all her healing items, and found it missing. She turned to Locke, who was busy rifling through it. It wasn’t with a sense of urgency, but more with baffled curiousity.

The Behemoth charged. Shadow didn’t move in time, and was mauled. Terra tried to shriek, but… well, nothing came. The Behemoth charged for Celes next, and she was gone instantly. Nothing her armor did could stop it. It came for Terra next.

And then she woke up.

The airship was humming along swimmingly, and Locke stood at the helm. He smiled and said, “Good to see you up.”

She shook herself a bit and straightened out her clothing, asking, “What… happened?”

“You got mauled by a Behemoth.”

“That… wasn’t a dream?”

“Nope. None of it was.”

“Then…?”

“It’s complicated, Terra. It really is.”

Terra looked around, eyeing the sky. There were no floating continents in the sky. She looked over, and saw things looked peaceful. She asked, “What… happened?”

Locke sighed and said, “There’s a long answer and a short answer. Which do you want?”

“Both.”

He tapped his foot and futzed with his bandana, saying, “I thought you’d say that. Well… the short of it is we travelled back in time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Do you see any floating continents?”

“… no…”

“And General Leo is still alive. Edgar’s probably waiting for us in his castle. Banon hasn’t met you. Celes is still locked up in prison. Doma Castle probably hasn’t been poisoned. It’s all been undone.”

“But… why? And how?”

“That’s… the long answer.” She looked at him expectantly, and he grumbled a bit. He said, “Terra, this is mostly conjecture about the very nature of our world! A bunch of technical gobbledygook that I read in some long lost library, written by a man who rode an elephant with a gun. It doesn’t make sense!”

“I don’t care.”

Locke sighed, stopping the airship. He slowly brought it down, near Zozo. The rain pattered on the ship as he said, “There are certain laws to the universe that must be upheld, Terra. They’re things like… we can only travel with four people at a time, or… or we can only get the airship down on grass.”

“But… travelling with four people makes sense!”

“Why not with five?”

“Too many people.”

“Nope. Incorrect. The world isn’t capable of handling us travelling with five people. It can only work with four people.”

“But that—“

“Doesn’t make sense? Neither does a lot of things in this world of ours.” He started to walk towards the ladder, saying, “Things are about to get worse. Do you remember when you first went Esper?”

“Not really…”

“Well, good. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.” The two of them walked into the town.

It was as it always was. Rainy. Stinky. Full of criminals and monsters and thugs. Terra kept near Locke, as he walked through the street easily and without much care in the world. A couple of thugs glared at them, and Locke glared right back. Terra asked, “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“Images are stronger than words in some cases, Terra.” They had arrived at the top of the tallest building, and Terra recognized the place. This was where she came to, after her adventures as an uncontrollable indigo rage monster. The details of what exactly happened during her rage monster time were unclear, but the room afterwards was very familiar.

Locke kicked the door open, and they stepped in. Terra gasped as she spotted the bed, and the chair next to it. On the bed was herself, in her half-Esper form, growling and panting. Nearby was an old man with a cane, who seemed to have expected their approach. He stroked his beard thoughtfully, as Locke walked forward. Terra approached her rage self, and the transformed girl growled a bit.

It was an odd compulsion to turn around and ask, “Is Terra okay?” But she followed through with it anyway.

Locke leaned over and whispered, “We just broke the world, Terra. Of course you’re not okay.”

“Well, I’m fine… I don’t know why I said that.”

The old man, apparently the Esper Ramuh, rambled on about how she was half Esper and the nature of Magicite. And then, in a flash, he summoned three chunks of Magicite, and turned into a crystal himself. Terra slowly picked it up and looked it over, then turned to Locke. He smiled and collected the rest of the shards, saying, “We should get going.”  
Terra nodded, then turned around. Before her stood… Moogles?

“… Locke?”

“Yes, Terra?”

“Why are there Moogles here?”

“It’s complicated, Terra.”

She wheeled around and glared at the thief, shouting, “Everything’s been complicated! Everything! Why the hell are there Moogles here? Why are they looking at me? What is up with them!?”

“Terra, calm down.”

“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN UNTIL I GET ANSWERS.”

Locke backed away a bit, and Terra realized she was dangerously close to going full on Esper rage beast. He smiled and laughed nervously, saying, “Well… you don’t remember this, but… well, when you were unconscious after that incident with the soldiers, a bunch of Moogles showed up and helped me kick ass. One of them was Mog, the others were a bunch of nameless mooks.”

“What does that have to do with any of this?”

“Well…”

Terra stepped towards the Moogles. They seemed to be rooted in place, refusing to move forward or backward. She looked back at Locke and said, “Get on with it, else I’m going to talk to them.”

“No!” Locke rushed forward, shoving Terra away from the line of Moogles. “Don’t, not yet! Let me.”

“Why?”

“Well… it’s more about laws of the universe.” Terra crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting for an explanation. Locke started to pace as he explained, “You’re not supposed to BE here. THEY’RE not supposed to be here. They’re supposed to be Celes and Edgar and Sabin and Cyan. But they’re not.”

“And… why aren’t they?”

Locke stopped pacing and looked down at his boots, trying to figure out how exactly to explain this. He said slowly, “The world is a very confusing place, Terra. Its laws are very strange. Because we went back in time, we never met Edgar or Sabin or Cyan or Celes. They exist, yes, but we haven’t MET them. And when we meet them, these Moogles go away.”

“Where do they go?”

“… I don’t know. Right now, though, the world is telling them to think they’re our friends.” He pointed at one of them, who was attempting to stand like Celes was. He said, “That’s Kutan. He’s supposed to be Celes. But he’s not. He’s Kutan.”

Terra studied the rest of them. Sure enough, each of them was trying their very best to be one of her friends. Well, except for Shadow, Setzer, and Gau. They didn’t seem to be present. She turned to Locke and asked, “Why can’t I talk to them?”

“You’re breaking the rules of the world, Terra. You’re not supposed to BE here. You’re supposed to be over there, freaking out and having an identity crisis or something.”

“But I AM here.”

“And that doesn’t matter. Let me lead on this, Terra. It’s important.”

“… have you done this before, Locke?” Locke slowly nodded, and Terra asked, “How many times have you done this?”

Locke simply smiled, saying, “Too many.”


End file.
